Advaitha in Vishnu Puranas - a story dear to Acharaya and Sri Ramana ! a

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The Story of Jadabharata

 

Many years ago there used to live a king named Bharata. He was the

son of Rishabha and used to live in a place known as Shalagrama. He

thought of Vishnu all the time, even in his dreams and he had given

up all thought of violence.

 

Once Bharata had gone to bathe in a river. A deer had also come to

drink water there. While the deer was drinking water, there was the

terrible roar of a lion. The deer gave a frightened leap and gave an

untimely birth. The baby fell into the river. The mother deer died as

a result of the leap. But Bharata rescued the baby deer from the

water and brought it home to his ashrama (hermitage). Every day, the

king fed the baby and slowly, the deer grew bigger. It wandered

around the hermitage. Sometimes it even wandered out, but returned

quickly as it was frightened of tigers. Asit grew older, the deer

would leave the ashrama in the mornings and return in the evenings.

 

Bharata grew attached to the deer and forgot everything else. He had

given up his kingdom, his sons, and his friends and forgotten them

all. But he could not forget the deer. If the deer was late in

returning to the ashrama, he would worry that it might have been

eaten up by a wolf or a tiger or a lion. He would be happy only when

the deer returned. And because Bharata thought about the deer so

much, he forgot to think of Vishnu.

 

Many years passed. Bharata died watching the deer and thinking of it.

Since he thought of the deer while dying, he was born as a deer in

his next life. The only difference was that he was born as a

jatismara deer, that is, a deer that remembered the incidents of its

past life. As a deer, Bharata left his mother and came again to

Shalagrama because he remembered his old place. He lived on dry

leaves and dry grass and eventually died. He was reborn as a

jatismara brahmana. In this life he was truly learned, well versed in

all the shastras.

 

Since he had attained the supreme knowledge, he saw no point in

reading the Vedas or in doing work. He kept to himself and spoke

little, only when he had to. His body was dirty, his clothes were

filthy and he never cleaned his teeth. Because of this, people

treated him badly. But since interaction with people was an obstacle

to attaining supreme knowledge. Bharata kept up this pretence of

beigh slightly mad. He moved so little that he came to known as

Jababharata. He ate whatever was available to him. And when his

father died, his brothers, nephews and friends, gave him only dirty

food to eat. Since he was strong and stout, they used him in their

farming work.

 

The sage Kapila had an ashrama on the banks of the river Ikshumati.

One day, the King of Soubira wanted to go there on a planaquin to

learn words of wisdom from the sage. The servant of the king looked

for palanquin-bearers who would carry the palanquin free of charge

and found Bharata. So Bharata bore the palanquin along with the other

bearers. But he walked slowly while the other bearers walked fast.

The result was that the palanquin did not move smoothly. When

scolded, the other bearers naturally blamed Bharata for this

difficulty.

 

"What is wrong?" Asked the king of Bharata, "Haven't you borne the

planquin only for a little while? How is it that you are tired? Can't

you bear a little burden? You look quite strong to me."

 

Bharata's answer was this. "Who am I and who are you? What you have

seen is only my body and your body. I am not my body and nor are your

your body. Our atmans or souls are what we really are. My atman is

not strong or tired, nor is it carrying your palanquin upon its

shoulders."

 

Having said this, Bharata was quiet again. But the king got down from

the palanquin and fell at his feet. He wanted to know who Bharata

really was, for such words of wisdom do not come from an ordinary

man. Bharata then told him the truth about the atman, which is never

destroyed and takes up different bodies from one life to another.

This is the jivatman. In additon, there is the paramatman, which I s

Vishnu and is everywhere. There is no difference between the jivatman

and the parmatman and the person who has realized this is truly wise.

To think that the jivatman is different from the parmatman is to

suffer from maya or illusion.

 

Bharata also told the king a story. Many years ago Brahma had a son

known as Ribhu. Ribhu was very learned and his disciple was Nidagha,

the son of Pulastya. The teacher and the pupil used to live in the

banks of the river Devika, near a city known as Viranagara, but Ribhu

realized that Nidagha was still not ready for the supreme knowledge.

So he sent the pupil to live in the city, although he continued to

live in the forest.

 

One day, Ribhu decided to pay Nidagha a visit to see how the disciple

was getting on. After Ribhu had washed his hands and feet, Nidagha

offered him food. "Please eat," he said.

 

"What have you got to eat?" asked Ribhu. "Is it clean food?"

 

"I have rice and cerals and fruit and sweets." Replied Nidagha.

 

"That is unclean food," said the teacher. "Make me rice pudding,

curds and wine."

 

Nidagha asked his wife to prepare the desired food. The food was

prepared and Ribhu had his fill.

 

"Are you content now?" asked Nidagha . "Where are you going and why

did you come here?"

 

Ribhu replied as follows. "Those who are hungry become content on

eating food. I was not hungry, so the question of my being content

after eating does not arise. Why ask me a silly question? The body

feels hungry, I do not. I am not the body. You asked me where I was

going and why did I come here. These are meaningless questions. My

atman is everywhere, it cannot go or come. I am not really what you

see. Nor are you what I see. I did not care at all about what you

gave me to eat. I said all that just to see what you would say. Since

all food is made of the same elements, it all tastes alike. Learn

this, for this is true knowledge."

 

Threreupon, Nidagha bowed down before Ribhu and said that his

illusions have now been destroyed.

 

After one thousand years had passed, Ribhu came again to Nidagha. And

he found that Nidagha now lived outside the city, eating grass and

straw. He didn't mix with other people and had become frail and thin.

Ribhu again gave him a lesson on true knowledge, which does not

distinguish between all things and paramatman.

 

And Bharata said that this was the knowledge that the king should

learn. The sky sometimes looks blue and sometimes white, but it is

the same sky. These who suffer from illusions look upon different

atmans separately. But they are truly all part of the same atman.

There is nothing in the world except this atman and all of us are

parts of the same atman.

 

This is the end of the second section of the Vishnu Purana.

 

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